North Korea and Trump get "MAD" about nukes

by Lou Venditti - News Editor

Wed, Dec 6th 2017 11:00 am

The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, also known as North Korea, is at it once again. North Korea tested an intercontinental ballistic missile on November 28. At 3 a.m. local time, the missile was launched, reaching a height of 4,500 miles and traveling 600 miles before landing in the Sea of Japan about an hour after launch. It was demonstrably the most powerful weapon North Korea has tested in its history.

Many analysts initially believed the missile to be the same as the Hwasong-14 North Korea had tested in July. The Hwasong-14 missile had the capabilities of reaching the west coast continental United States. The missile was successfully tested twice. However, analysts have since realized that it was an advanced missile launched Tuesday.

Korean photographs of the missile show it’s significantly larger than the Hwasong-14, according to wired.com. The new missile has two first stage engines as opposed to one and additional propellant in the second stage. Analysts believe the missile could carry a warhead as far as Kim Jong-Un, the North Korean leader, could wish, including the entire continental U.S. In a television broadcast, the North Korean state media said the missile has “much greater advantages in its tactical and technological specifications and technical characteristics.”

In just two years, Kim Jong-Un has kicked the North Korean nuclear program into high gear. North Korea has fired two successful missiles that have made it over Japan in the last year, as well as tested its sixth successful nuclear bomb in early September.

The successes haven’t come without failures, however. At times, it has seemed like the North Korean nuclear program has been idling, with misfires of the Musudan and Hwasong-10 missiles in 2016 and another misfire this past April. Even so, North Korea is quickly establishing themselves as a nuclear power in the world.

North Korea’s status as a nuclear power has increased tensions between it and the U.S. The Trump administration has sent some mixed signals, flipping back and forth between wanting total war with North Korea and destroying it, or asking for a diplomatic solution through sanctions. The tensions are getting increasingly uncomfortable for the rest of the world. The Guardian reported that Trump’s tough talks on North Korea have made him look foolish to Russian and Chinese diplomats, one even suggesting that Trump is looking for a pretext to attack North Korea.

The obvious shouldn’t have to be stated, but I’ll say it anyways — a war with North Korea would be devastating, especialla nuclear war. In the 1960s, the term MAD, or mutually assured destruction, was something government officials were well aware of in the Cold War against Russia. Now, in 2017, our nukes are stronger, even against a smaller nuclear program in North Korea. Any nuclear conflict would destroy the world.

Even a ground war would be bad. The U.S. has proven time and again that it is as a careless imperial nation with no thoughts for civilians. However, the North Korean people are a special case. They’ve been brainwashed into a cult of personality around their leader. How would the U.S. be able to minimize civilian casualties? Does the U.S. even see the North Korean people as humans?

As is whenever North Korea successfully tests a missile, heartless people come out of the wood works. The Trump administration and its supporters have called for the destruction of North Korea and all of the people in it. That callous and reckless mindset would be on par with a genocide. Sure, North Korea has a nuclear program, but the answer is not to wipe the country off the map. There are more diplomatic solutions to be found.